Andrew Abela, dean of the School of Business and Economics, wrote a commentary on why the idea of concrete love is useful to understanding Church teaching about the economy for the National Catholic Register on Jan. 30, 2014. See the article below.

Soap-Opera Economics

In a Jan. 9 homily, commenting on the Letter of St. John (4:11-18), Pope Francis said that “the love of which John speaks is not the love of which soap operas are made.” On the contrary, “Christian love is concrete. Jesus himself, when he speaks of love, tells us concrete things: Feed the hungry; visit the sick.” Indeed, “when this concreteness is lacking,” we end up “living a Christianity of illusions, for we do not understand the heart of Jesus’ message,” the Pope said. Love that is not concrete — soap-opera love — is “an illusory love.”

I find the idea of concrete love to be a useful key to understanding Church teaching about the economy. Many millions of Catholics make their living each day in various aspects of the economy, which explains in part the widespread and growing interest in Church teaching on the economy. How does one live as a faithful Catholic in the economy, and, indeed, does the system we call capitalism allow us to do so?